Are you using a digital radio? You have to have one to fly this plane. If so, the wing servo should go on the gear switch, usually slot 5 on your receiver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smkn951

hello everyone,
i have been flying mine for a couple of days now and still have not crashed it. great plane.
since i can't figure out how to do the swing wing on my radio, i just went ahead and made it a permanent open wing configuration.
gear consist of a blue wonder, 3s 1000mah 20c lipo, 20 and esc, futaba r114f rx and 5g hxt servos.
very nice in the air. i'm thinking of slapping a 370 outrunner eflight on it, would this make the plane faster? i also have a couple of 3s 1300mah 20c coming.
would ailerons work on this plane? i'm having a bit of trouble turning.
thanks everyone.

The motor is an Eflite 400 outrunner, with a 1250ma 3 cell lipo battery and a 35 amp ESC. I'm concerned about the prop, which is a 7X7 cut down from an 11X7. I didn't get to fly this weekend because of weather, but the plane is ready.

Will, Looks like that is probably a 740 or 920kv motor which means a lower top RPM. You will want a lot of pitch - like maybe a 7x8 or 7x9. It should work but your top speed and vertical performance will be less.

Some packing tape let's the wing slide smoothly against the lower deck. The rear spacer, pivot disc and forwards spacers are all load-carrying parts when glued so be sure not to put tape near any of these parts.

Cut spacer discs from 1mm Depron and glue to the tops of the pivot discs. This will create clearance between the wing and upper deck so it can move freely.

Bend the wing rods from .050 music wire and put a 'V' in one of them so you can adjust the wings for symmetry. Ideal rod length is 3.2" from eye to eye.

Assemble the wings, rods and servo horn but don't attach the horn to the servo yet. Rotate the wings to the SWEPT position.

If possible, set you TX for max travel - this will provide the maximum range of swing. On a DX7 you can increase travel to 150%.. on radios like the EVO you can also slow the servo down for more realistic action.

With the radio on... set the chosen control switch on the TX to the desired SWEPT position. Then move the switch to the OPEN position and watch the direction the servo rotates... return the switch to the SWEPT position. If the servo rotates CLOCKWISE then attach the horn as shown in the picture. If the rotation is COUNTER-CLOCKWISE then attach it as seen in the video and picture below. You can also simply reverse the servo if you like. It doesn't matter which direction the servo is rotating - only the start position. Check for function when ready... you can make fine adjustments to the SWEPT position using the trim on the TX.

Cut mylar bushing strips for the pivots. I used the backing from sticky Velcro and let it free-float between the disc and wing. You can also use tape strips and simply stick them to the OD of the disc.

Glue the fwd spacers in - remember that these parts carry some of the wing loading so apply glue near the edge.

Assemble the top deck next... fold some sandpaper in half and in half again and use it to sand a groove into the bottom side of the upper deck. Be sure the carbon spar is flush or slightly below the surface and then glue it in place.

Add some tape at the edges where shown. Be sure that the tape does not overlap the the areas where the deck will glue to the fwd and rear spacers.

Test fit the completed upper deck and glue when ready. Be very careful with the amount of glue applied to the pivot discs... you want a good bond, but you don't want any excess to squeeze out. The amount shown works perfectly. You may want to to practice on some scrap first - just to be sure there is no squeeze out. As with all steps in this build, I recommend applying glue to one part - and kicker to the mating part. You can then simply press and hold the two together for a few seconds and you will have a very strong bond.

Install the rear deck, motor mount and motor. I use CA for the motor mount with good results, but epoxy will be stronger. Chamfer the TE of the deck to match.

Next, glue the carbon spar to the TE of the horizontal stab. This is the strongest way to build it but requires tape hinges. If you want to use conventional hinges you may want to glue the carbon to the inside of the prop cutout instead.

Build the elevons next... start by cutting or sanding a 45 chamfer on the LE then cut 1/16 wide slots for the control horns and glue them in place. The wood horns are designed to distribute the control input load over a large area. This makes for more precise controls and allows the elevon to take more abuse without deforming the foam around the horn. You can use nylon horns also... but you may want to add a thin ply doubler underneath it to keep it from deforming the foam.

I use tape hinges because they are quick and easy but other hinge methods work well too. Tape both sides and add additional perpendicular strips at the ends to prevent the tape from tearing.

The control rods are .077 (2mm) carbon with nylon clevises glued on the end. I glue one end first then install and set the length. A drop of thin CA fixes the other end when ready. Drill the control horns and servo arms to fit the clevises. You want NO SLOP in the linkages, but you also don't want them to bind or you will overwork your servo. A good drill index comes in handy here.

It's just not an F-14 without the deck ribs... I used some 2mm depron I had laying around. The ribs also add stiffness to the upper deck.

The canopy goes on last... glue the two parts together and shape with some sandpaper then glue to the top of the fuse.

You will notice an increase in top speed if you round all of the LE's and slightly taper all of the TE's. However, high-alpha performance is actually better with a square LE. I recommend test-flying first before sanding - just so you can see the difference. If you don't feel like sanding you can simply run your fingers around the edges to remove the sharp corner.

I am making a small batch of CNC cut kits and I just got the first set in for testing. I figured I would document the build for anyone wanting to make their own... I will also try to post a MK2 assembly manual tomorrow.

Birdofplay cut the parts for me and they arrived neatly packed in a pizza box. The quality and fit of the parts is absolutely top-notch.

Don't forget to add a cockpit photo of yourself. Just find a Blue Angels plane lying around, jump in the cockpit and take a photo. Then print out the photo and paste to the cockpit area. Don't forget to make a reverse copy for the opposite side. I did this on my Mig, now I will make another set for my New MDC F-14 MK2

Thanks so much for your wonderful plans and pics and videos, You Rock!